UMES rallies keep NCCU women winless

With help from Shawnee Sweeney and Ashleigh Claybrooks scoring 17 points each, UMES snapped its four-game losing streak with a 72-53 victory over N.C. Central on Monday in MEAC women’s basketball.
Chasidy Williams led NCCU with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Kaylah Blount added nine points and 14 rebounds.
NCCU (0-8, 0-21 MEAC) scored the first two baskets in the opening four minutes, but the Lady Hawks (2-5, 6-12) countered with an 10-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Sha-Kiyla Finney and a layup by Claybrooks to go ahead by six.
UMES hiked up the pressure and played strong defense: at 10-6, Karona Roach (Bear, Del.) contributed a pair of layups in a 8-2 home team run to push the Lady Hawks up 17-8 with under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
After a layup by Williams, Sweeney hit a 3-pointer, then stole in the inbounds pass for a layup and a 22-10 UMES lead.
Though NCCU got help at the free throw line, the Lady Hawks held their opponent to just four field goals on the way to a 30-22 halftime.
The Lady Eagles got to within 32-29 early in the second half, but UMES countered by attacking inside with Claybrooks hitting the next four baskets, all layups, as part of a 9-1 run and a 41-30 UMES lead with 14:08 left.
Down 45-34, NCCU went on a 6-0 spurt in less than a minute-and-a-half to pull within five points.
Jessica Long’s layup and another by Roach pushed the UMES lead 50-40 with 10:18 remaining.
At 52-46 with 8:08 left, UMES went on a 16-3 run, including three baskets by Sweeney, to finish off the Lady Eagles, who shot just 28.6 percent from the field.